in: Alberto Comelli, Janet E. Milne, Mikael Skou Anderson, Hope Ashiabor, Taxation and the Green Growth Challenge
Buchbeiträge, Edward Elgar Publishing, August 2023, S.99-112
Discussions about the reform of subsidies with negative climate impacts have been going on for decades in policy and research.
Such subsidies counteract climate protection efforts, contradict the polluter-pays principle, and reinforce market distortions
and the carbon lock-in. Based on a literature review, the paper summarises the results of a comprehensive bottom-up analysis
of direct subsidies and fiscal measures (indirect subsidies) that are granted on the federal level in Austria. The analysis
considers energy generation and use, transport, and agriculture and assesses the subsidies' legal foundations and original
motivations, the subsidy volumes and identifies the beneficiary groups. The quantification of the subsidies results in a range
of 4.1 to 5.7 billion € p.a. In addition, relevant regulatory provisions that have a subsidy character are examined. Considering
the environmental effectiveness, economic criteria (like distributional impacts) and potential legal constraints reform suggestions
are developed for the support measures.
Im Rahmen der Ökologisierung von Abgabensystemen spielen föderale Aspekte in der Regel keine Rolle. Die finanzwissenschaftliche
Literatur bietet jedoch Kriterien zur Festlegung der staatlichen Ebene, die für die Bepreisung unterschiedlicher negativer
Externalitäten am besten geeignet wäre. Im österreichischen Kontext wären sowohl die stärkere Ökologisierung des Abgabensystems
als auch in bestimmten Bereichen eine stärkere Dezentralisierung umweltbezogener Steuern und Abgaben überlegenswert.
in: Stefan E. Weishaar, Janet E. Milne, Mikael Skou Andersen, Hope Ashiabor, Green Deals in the Making. Perspectives from Across the Globe
Buchbeiträge, Edward Elgar Publishing, August 2022, S.127-140
Auftraggeber: Klima- und Energiefonds
Studie von: Österreichisches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung – Internationales Institut für Angewandte Systemanalyse – Wirtschaftsuniversität Wien
A comprehensive restructuring of economies and a massive increase of investments in climate-friendly technologies, infrastructures,
and R&D is needed to reach the Paris targets. The EU has launched a process for greening the financial sector, emphasising
the need for new instruments and financial market regulation for aligning investments to sustainability. This chapter summarises
research on two topics: (1) what are the main political strategies, especially at EU level, to support green finance, and
(2) which are the key supporting factors, barriers and actors for an upscaling of green investments? To assess the relevance
of green finance in the financial market and climate policy (with a focus on Austria) an expert survey was conducted. It delivers
insights on promising policies and strategies for fostering the growth of green finance. Conclusions can be drawn on instruments
(like carbon pricing) that should be integrated in post-COVID stimulus packages to ensure a Paris-aligned recovery.
Two major international frameworks provide landmarks for future development paths: the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
and the Paris Climate Agreement. Monitoring the progress towards achieving the individual goals must take into account a multitude
of synergies and trade-offs. In this paper we use composite indices to analyse climate and energy policies in selected EU
member countries. These results show that, in general, the improvements regarding energy efficiency, emissions and deployment
of renewables have been moderate in the period under observation (2005–2015). This hints at the time needed for restructuring
to take place, which underlines the importance of credible political commitments to climate targets, the implementation of
ambitious instruments and the need for stability in the guiding frameworks to effectuate substantial changes. In addition,
the analysis of the selected countries shows that they are characterised by very specific energy systems (complemented by
specific social structures), and this determines the challenges that each country must overcome on the way to decarbonisation
and sustainable development. While the SDGs are to be implemented on a global scale, it is necessary to adapt them to the
characteristics of a given country or region. Reliable and long-term quantitative data that is comparable across countries
or regions and that takes into account the social dimension is required to be able to monitor the overall progress of SGD
implementation.